Foundation garment



March 11, 1969 M. BUGNON ETAL FOUNDAT ION GARMENT Filed June 23. 1966 United States Patent US. Cl. 128-546 3 Claims Int. Cl. A41c 1/18, 1/12 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A foundation garment in which a pair of longitudinally elastic strips cross one another over the front of the body and extend diagonally upwards so as to wrap and surround the wearer so as to raise any excess flesh and give the wearer the desired upwardly extending outline while flattening the stomach.

Hitherto ladies have worn sheath corsets holding their waist tight and reducing the waist periphery by a few centimeters. Said result was achieved solely by a compressional stress, so that the wearer of such underclothing holding her fast was uncomfortable.

The present invention has for its object a method for cutting and assembling the component parts of a sheath corset or the like undergarment and the underclothing obtained thereby.

According to said improved method two elastic strips, drawn upwardly so as to enclose the body of the wearer between them urge towards a front flap which cannot expand in any direction a rear lower flap, which cannot expand vertically but can be transversely elastic or otherwise. To this end, these elastic strips arranged to either side of the sheath corset or the like garment and which are longitudinally elastic extend upwardly, substantially along diagonal lines whereas the lower end of each strip is secured on the one hand to the lower peripheral edging of the sheath, which edging is elastic throughout its length and also to one of the sides of a further part which is transversely elastic or otherwise, but is not elastic in a vertical direction; last-mentioned part is of a reduced height and forms the lower end of the rear flap the upper .part of which is of a greater height and is vertically elastic but is not elastic transversely. Said strips extending upwardly to enclose the body of the wearer cross each over the nonexpansible front flap to which they are secured so as to lock them in their expanded condition while the ends of said strips projecting beyond said front flap are secured to an upper belt or edging.

The accompanying diagrammatic drawings illustrate by way of example and in a nonlimiting sense a preferred embodiment of a ladies sheath corset of which the component parts have been cut and assembled in accordance with the method forming the object of the present invention. In said drawings:

FIGS. 1 to 3 are elevational views of the same sheath corset as seen respectively in front, side and back view.

FIG. 4 is on a much larger scale a partial longitudinal sectional view through line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

The fabric forming the body or carcase 2 of the sheath corset is elastic in all directions. Said sheath is provided both at its upper and at its lower end with a longitudinally elastic edging as illustrated at 3 and 4 respectively, while the front surface of the sheath includes a front flap made of a nonexpansible fabric and to which are secured the vertical edges 6 and 7 of the fabric forming the actual sheath so as to lock the latter in its expanded condition.

In the back of the sheath, its fabric is lined (FIG. 3) by a shaped section 8 of fabric allowing its vertical expansion in the direction of the arrow 9 while it locks the expansion of the sheath fabric breadthwisc, that is in a direction perpendicular to said arrow 9.

Underneath the lower end of said rear section or lining 8, the fabric of the sheath is lined with a further section or yoke 11 locking its elasticity in a vertical direction while giving it full freedom breadthwise as shown by the arrow 12.

To each side 13 or 14 of said lower section 11 showing a transverse elasticity there is secured the end of a lateral strip shown respectively at 15 and 16; said strips are longitudinally elastic and extend diagonally upwardly so as to wrap and surround the body of the wearer, said strips crossing each other over the front flap 5, in order to lock the elasticity of the two oblique strips, they are secured to this non-ex'pansible front flap 5 in the area where said strips cross each other and cover said front flap. As to the upper ends 17 and 1 8 of said strips extending beyond the front flap 5, they are secured to the belt or edging 3 at the upper end of the sheath.

The body 2 of the sheath, thus reinforced by the strips 15 and 16 which both extend diagonally, holds in position the bulky sections of the wearers body so as to shift them and to distribute them throughout the periphery of the sheath. However, for a better distribution and securing of such excess masses of flesh, the corresponding sections of the fabric forming the sheath are not lined so as to allow them to retain their elasticity to a maximum extent.

The raising stress exerted on said masses is produced by each elastic strip 15 or 16 starting from the small lower flap or yoke 11 at the rear and extending diagonally up to the front flap 5 over which said strips cross each other and beyond which the strips are secured, at 19 and 20 respectively at the front of the sheath, to the upper belt 3 thereof.

The upper section 8 of the back, which is of a comparatively greater height than the lower section 11 or yoke, is vertically elastic so as to allow freedom of movement for the wearer whereas said lower section 11 is elastic breadthwise so as to cooperate in the raising of the excess masses of flesh as provided by the stress exerted on each side by the diagonal strips 15 and 16.

The elements resorted to for obtaining the desired results are thus constituted in particular by the diagonal strips extending from the lower end to the upper end of the sheath so as to connect the lower section of the back with the front flap 5. Each of the single strips illustrated in the accompanying drawings may be replaced by a multiplicity of strips arranged in parallelism or otherwise and interconnected by any suitable means.

Among other advantages, said sheath gives a more elongated outline to the wearer since it raises any excess flesh and gives said wearer the desired upwardly extending outline while flattening the stomach and reducing the waist by reason of the association of the above described parts, the elasticity of which is selectively vertical or horizontal or else faces opposite directions or cut out entirely.

The diagonal elastic strips secured to the non-expansible front flap raises the lower back flap so as to lift the general shape of the body without the sheath corset rising bodily.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the sole embodiment of a sheath corset described hereinabove and it covers all the modifications thereof falling within the scope of the accompanying claims and which may be proposed when resorting to the above mentioned cutting and assembling methods for producing combinations, princess slips, jerkin, slips and all other underwear holding the body after the manner or a sheath corset.

The invention covers also the case where the same result is obtained by means of only one elastic strip which may be transversely single or multiple and the two ends of which are secured to a front nonexpansible flap, the diagonal directed sections of said strips extending to either side of its central lower section which acts in the same manner as the lower rear lining section 11 incorporated with the above described embodiment.

The invention also covers the case where the single strip or each strip is replaced by two half-strips assembled of their cooperating upper and lower end respectively so as to form the front nonexpansible flap 5 and the lower rear yoke 11.

What I claim is:

1. Foundation garment comprising a body which is at least horizontally extensible, a pair of longitudinally elastic strips crossing each other over the front of said body, said strips having ends secured to the upper and lower edges of said body, said strips extending diagonally upwardly so as to wrap and surround the wearer; a front,

nonexpansible panel lining said body and secured to a point of each strip; and a rear, vertically nonexpansible section over the lower end of the back of said body; each of said strips further having a rear edge, said edge having a lower end secured to said section.

2. A garment as claimed in claim 1, having an upper rear section vertically expansible and horizontally nonexpansible over the back of the garment body above said lower rear section.

3. A garment according to claim 1, wherein the same is a sheath corset.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,872,927 2/1959 Erteszek l28540 3,044,471 7/1962 Morehouse l28548 3,121,428 2/1964 Laguzzi l28348 3,338,245 8/1967 Laguzzi 128-547 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

